Timber crime evidence is released as probe starts
EIA has today published documents to support investigations in Cambodia of the illegal timber traffic from that country’s Ratanakiri province into Vietnam, as initially exposed in EIA’s Repeat Offender report on May 8.
The documents include satellite images of major log depots in Vietnamese military-controlled territory on the border, customs and tax documents for specific shipments of thousands of cubic metres of prohibited logs, the official Vietnamese Government legal provisions and authorisations giving 16 companies quotas amounting to more than 230,000m3 of Cambodian timber, sales invoices, packing lists and official Vietnamese customs records detailing Vietnam’s import of about $300m of wood and wood products from Cambodia since January 2016.
EIA is encouraged to hear that on Sunday, May 14, Cambodia’s Environment Minister announced the launch of an intensive investigation into the timber smuggling underway in Ratanakiri.
The dossier of documents can be accessed here.